Too Much Stuff

American society is a culture with Too Much Stuff.

With the advent of the Big Box store such as Costco, Walmart, Kmart, Target and others, we find foreign made items for cheap and because it’s cheap and we can easily throw it away when it’s done, we feel okay about buying it. It may make us feel good to have the ability to afford so many “wonderful” items and feel good that we are getting it for such a “good” price. Yet many clients I work with don’t realize that this buying behavior week after week and month after month and year after year clogs not only their homes, it taxes their minds, emotions and bodies.

I see far too many homes that have untold purchases that were once wanted but soon join the heap of trash they can no longer manage. When you add children to the mix, the multiple purchases of toys for holidays, birthdays and the insistent whine of a child who has to have something, creates more things than families can effectively handle. People don’t know where to put things as closets overflow, garages are no longer accessible except for a small pathway, and things get buried behind furniture, shelving and more stuff piled on top!

Enough! We need some sanity around this problem that is growing increasingly out of  control. I worked with a family recently who had a two level home with at least 4 bedrooms and 3 or 4 children, lots of space and stuff pouring out of the rooms and down hallways. There were bags of newly purchased items that hadn’t been used or worn, with tags still attached with nowhere to go. With purchases from Marshall’s, Ross, and Target, this collection of new things were not needed nor could they ever be appreciated and acknowledged. I think we become numb to all this new stuff that our minds can’t process. The incoming process had to STOP and the outgoing had to kick into high gear. We were able to get a large pile of things to be donated and recycled in our session together though there was serious work still to complete.

So what can we do? The first is to stop and reassess the stuff we have in our homes and see if what we have is serving us. We need to stop the incessant buying that will never fill up the proverbial hole we feel inside and make new decisions about what we are buying and why. Children, of all people, especially in families with greater means, need to learn the value of what they have, and that constantly purchasing new things and overrunning their rooms and play areas only adds to the attention problem with which so many

struggle. We need to realize that having more stuff–more TVs, electronic devices, toys, clothing, bags, shoes, power tools, etc–isn’t the answer to satisfying a deeper need. When we have problems finding what we have, an inability using our things, then losing our things and feeling overwhelm amidst clutter, then something has gone awry.

We have the chance to choose differently. We can teach children, and ourselves, the importance of keeping a space cleared and how it allows us to function with greater ease and effectiveness. To appreciate the things we have and find it when we need it. To start making new choices about letting go of things we no longer need and teaching ourselves that we don’t have to fill every available space with stuff. Our homes and work spaces are sacred and they need to be treated as such. Think before you buy and make sure it’s something you truly need and want and make a decision to let go of something in its place. It can be done. It takes practice and a new mindset.

If you need help with organizing your space, call Steve at Creative Space Organizing at 510.501.1213 and let’s make your space more livable, creative and productive.